The Federal Government has assured manufacturers of its commitment to sectoral waivers rather than individual waivers. The government also has assured them of its commitment to the Export Expansion Grant (EEG), stating that the scheme was only relaxed to give room for review.
There have been concerns that the government was more interested in granting waivers to individual manufacturers rather than all the players in a sub-sector. Manufacturers have also expressed worry over the suspension of the Negotiable Duty Credit Certificates (NDCCs), which are instruments of EEG that have provided succour to manufacturing exporters.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, coordinating minister for the economy and minister of finance, took time to assure manufacturers that government’s waivers were now given on sector basis, while EEG scheme was being reviewed to make it sustainable.
“One of the things we have done is to reform waivers, to transform them. We have decided to give waivers on sectoral basis. If someone walks in and talks about waivers, we will ensure it gets to everybody”, said Okonjo-Iweala, during an interactive session between her and members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Lagos.
On the EEG, she said the way the scheme was run was not sustainable, adding that all areas were being examined to ensure that all parties benefitted at the end of the day.
“We had to judge the benefits to the country against the amount being ceded. The scheme is there but we are reviewing it to make it more affordable”, she stated, adding that N200 billion had been paid out so far in spite of outstanding payments.
The minister also pleaded with manufacturers to create more jobs, adding that efforts were on gear to ensure that consensus would be completed in Nigeria before the adoption of the Economic Partnership Agreement.
Okonjo-Iweala also assured manufacturers that efforts were on gear to establish a development finance institution in order to make credit accessibility easy and reduce high cost of funds, emphasising that efforts would be made to ensure that Nigerian manufacturers gained from the forthcoming Common External Tariff scheme.
Kola Jamodu, president, MAN, said recent development in the West African region had made it imperative to industrialise Nigeria, since manufacturing sector had the capacity to create wealth and employment.
He urged the Federal Government to continue with sector-based policies, stating that interest rate which hovered around 21 percent and Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) which caused delays at ports were main issues the government needed to look into.
On energy, Jamodu said government’s attention should be focused on transmission.
ODINAKA ANUDU
